More room will be provided to train volunteer emergency responders and law and public safety students at the Ocean County Training Center.
“The Ocean County Training Center, which is home to the county’s fire and first aid academies, opened its doors in September 1998,” said Ocean County Freeholder John P. Kelly, Director of Law and Public Safety. “Since that time countless numbers of community-spirited volunteers use the facility each and every day in order to learn new skills or hone those they have already been taught.
“From firefighters to emergency medical technicians, from law enforcement to Ocean County Vocational-Technical students, the center provides a top-notch learning experience for all of the men and women who give so much back to this great County,” Kelly said.
In order to meet the growing class sizes and the needs of the diverse groups using the center, the County is ready to break ground on a four classroom addition providing more than 4,100 square feet of new space.
“The new space can accommodate up to 120 students,” Kelly said. “And, the space can be separated by motorized partitions to create smaller or larger areas based on the activities being conducted.”
While thousands of emergency response volunteers have been trained at the facility, in recent years it has also become the center for the Ocean County Vocational Technical Schools Law and Public Safety Program.
“This Training Center has been well-used by our volunteers and our vo-tech students,” said Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari, who serves as liaison to the county’s vocational technical school system. “The vo-tech program has successfully trained many young men and women who want to pursue law enforcement careers.
“The training center also provides firefighters and emergency medical technicians with the important tools they need to serve their communities,” Vicari said.
In addition to the new classroom space, the project will include new sidewalks around the building, additional handicapped access parking spaces, and the relocation of air conditioning units. The parking lot is expected to be repaved once the classroom construction is completed.
Future improvements include upgrades to the smoke house sensor system and replacement of the burn box.
The training center currently includes six individual buildings housed on 18 acres of property located at 200 Volunteer Way. Each building has individual and unique features that aid in the enhancement of the training of Ocean County’s volunteers and personnel. Included at the training center site are an administration building, five classrooms, an indoor training area, smoke house, burn building, natural gas fire simulator, extrication pad staging area, drill tower and control tower.
The contractor is Apex Engineering of Union Inc. The cost of the project is $955,000 and is expected to take about nine months to complete.
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